


Personal Trust

by Madisuzy



Series: Personal [5]
Category: Compilation of Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy VII
Genre: F/M, M/M, Swearing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-10-20
Updated: 2012-10-20
Packaged: 2017-11-16 17:04:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,595
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/541821
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Madisuzy/pseuds/Madisuzy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>For some it grows and for others it dies.  Misplaced or true, this installment in the Personal series is all about trust.  Part 5 in the Personal arc.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Personal Trust

**Author's Note:**

  * For [kickcows](https://archiveofourown.org/users/kickcows/gifts).



> Dedicated to kickcows here on A03, as she's the reason I wrestled another chapter into existence.

Reno smiled, silently watching Aerith finish up with her flowers for the day. His smile took on a darker hue as he ran over his future plans for her in his mind. It had been two months since he'd first revealed himself to the young lady before him and finally a friendship had formed between them. Of course, at first she'd been anything but cooperative about trusting him in any way, but over time he'd managed to chip away at her stubborn resolve to dislike him. Now that there was a bond between them, Reno was just waiting for the perfect moment to make his move. He didn't plan to rush things though, so it would only be the first step to his ultimate goal of deflowering the flower girl.

As she stood up from the garden, Reno schooled his expression into one more innocent, returning her earnest smile as she turned towards him.

"I'll just go and wash up before we leave, okay?" Aerith said softly. Reno nodded, rising to follow her when she walked out to the back of the church. There was an old water tank there, filled with rain water that ran off what remained of the roof of the church, and she used it to water her flowers as well as clean her hands afterwards. The water was undrinkable due to the pollution that coated everything under the plate, but her flowers seemed to flourish despite its toxicity.

"Any preferences for lunch today, Sunshine?" Reno murmured, leaning up against the back wall of the church as she washed her hands, his eyes moving over the surrounding area to ensure all was secure. Most of the monsters around the church only came out at night, apart from some small, mostly harmless ones, but Reno knew it paid to be over cautious in the slums. Some of the local humans could be far more dangerous that any beast.

"I was thinking it might be nice to have a picnic, if you'd like to, of course," Aerith replied, turning a teasing expression on the redhead. "I know you're not a fan of nature, city boy, but a friend of mine showed me a special spot and I've been wanting to try it out. Do you think you could handle a little more greenery for me?"

Reno snorted out a laugh, amused at the suggestion that he might say no. He'd never said no, no matter what she suggested. "I can manage plants... as long as they're not the kind that eat people."

"There are plants that eat people?" Aerith asked, walking closer to Reno with an expression of disbelief. "I think you're pulling my leg again, Reno."

"Nah, honest there are," Reno insisted, pushing off the wall and going to the door to hold it open for her. "On this mission once, me and Rude found a forest that had these huge, purple leafed plants. We gave them a wide berth cause they smelled funky, and lucky we did as in the middle of a fight there one day, Rude throws this guy into one and the side of it opened up and sucked him in. Weirdest shit I'd ever seen."

Aerith give him an odd expression as she walked back inside past him and he grinned as he followed her. "Don't worry, I shot the guy in the plant so the sucker wouldn't suffer. I may be a bastard, but I still don't think anyone deserves to be slowly digested alive."

Aerith shook her head at his explanation, letting out a sigh as they walked towards the front entrance to the church. "I suppose that since he was your enemy, he was going to have to die anyway," she mused, pushing the door open and holding it open for him this time. It was a subject they had talked about before.

"Kill or be killed and all that," Reno muttered, walking past her only to pause on the steps to light up a cigarette. He'd stopped smoking inside the church weeks ago, figuring she'd appreciate a demonstration of his good intentions. Aerith walked over to stand beside him as he exhaled away from her, looking back just in time to catch the cheeky smile she directed at him.

"Those will kill you too," she teased, dodging his hand when he tried to smack her behind. "Or I will, if you try to hit my backside again."

"Awe, but it's such a nice butt, just begging to be slapped," Reno whined, trying for another hit but letting her dodge it again. She giggled and jogged away from him, walking backwards down the street with a huge smile that made her seem almost luminescent, even in the daylight. He followed her like flowers followed the sun.

"You haven't earned the right to slap my behind yet, Reno," she teased, laughing at the shocked look her words brought to Reno's face. He recovered quickly though.

"Oh, now the truth comes out. Miss sweet and innocent is really a closet kink freak," Reno retorted, falling easily back into the teasing flirtations. This time it was Aerith whose face turned shocked, and Reno found himself laughing as he mentally gave himself a point.

"I am not a closet kink freak, you total pervert," she stated, suddenly looking honestly offended. "Maybe lunch wasn't such a good idea after all." Suddenly turning away, Aerith began striding away from him.

"Hey!" Reno called out, jogging to catch up and grabbing one of her arms to turn her to face him. "Sorry, alright? I didn't mean to offend ya or nothing."

They stood in silence in the middle of the street, eyes locked together as Reno internally panicked. Had he just ruined all that hard earned trust?

Suddenly, Aerith's face broke into a smile and she started giggling, one hand coming up to cover her mouth as her laughter increased. Reno growled at her, not appreciating being fooled so completely.

"Yeah, yeah, so ya got me, ya cheeky brat," he muttered, letting go of her arm to cross his own over his chest.

"Sorry, Reno, but your expression was priceless," she replied happily, still giggling as she reached up to curl a hand under one of his crossed arms, gripping his bicep gently. "I can't help teasing you when it makes you pout so cutely."

Reno sighed, giving her an exasperated look and finally a smile. "Ya lucky I like ya spunk, Sunshine," he muttered, shaking his head as he lead her down the street back towards the market place.

***.***

Reeve was smiling, happily humming a tune as he busied himself with making lunch in his kitchen. Usually, this was a sight that would make Cait feel the same happiness, but today was a whole different story. The food being prepared and the happiness radiating off of the engineer were both for one man alone.

_That stupid Turk..._

Trying to not think of his rival, Cait turned his thoughts to his creator instead, sighing as he watched Reeve cook. With Fait now a permanent member of their family and her own emotions an open book, Reeve was now well aware of his creations ability to feel emotions. Luckily, he'd taken it all in stride and hadn't felt the need to reprogram them, as Cait had originally feared.

Unfortunately though, Reeve had lost faith in Cait's judgment as a result, which had left their relationship in a place Cait didn't want it to be. The little robot missed the days when his creator would listen to him and trust his opinions.

The major incident that had heralded a change between them occurred just two weeks ago. Cait had finally failed in his attempts to feign indifference over the growing relationship between Reeve and Tseng, unable to hide his displeasure on this particular night. He'd slipped and been openly rude to Tseng and when Reeve had taken him to his room to ask what the problem was, all his pent up disapproval had just flowed out. He'd told Reeve how worried he was, how he thought Tseng was going to break his heart and how he didn't trust the Turk not to stab them all in the back at any moment.

Reeve's reaction had shocked him completely. His creator had dismissed all of his concerns as pure jealousy, based on the fact he'd spent barely any time with Cait for weeks. After the engineer apologized for neglecting him and promised to put time aside just for the two of them, Cait had finally managed to pull himself together enough to object more aggressively to having all of his concerns discounted so quickly.

He could grudgingly admit to himself now that maybe he'd been a little over emotional at the time and said some things he really shouldn't have... but still, Reeve shouldn't have gotten so mad at him for simply trying to be taken seriously.

Reeve had told him. in no uncertain terms, that his relationship with Tseng was none of Cait's business and that he didn't want to hear another word about it from the robot in the future. After leaving him in his room with strict instructions to stay there, Cait had spent the night staring out his window as he tried to work out how to fix things.

He'd thought of nothing that night, or since, and his relationship with Reeve had stayed broken as a result. The engineer still talked to him, but there were no more long discussions on Reeve's feelings anymore, just normal day to day interactions.

Cait missed their heart to heart talks and their previous closeness so much that it was beginning to affect every other part of his life. He was often grumpy and sarcastic now, and had no patience for his sister for any extended period. He wanted to turn back time and for things to just go back to the way they were before that Turk ruined everything.

Sighing, Cait rested his head on his hands as he perched on a stool and watched the activity around him. Reeve studiously ignored his sulking and continued cooking around the robot as if he wasn't there at all. Fait, on the other hand, was busy running around the kitchen helping while sending him the odd disapproving glance.

 _She's such a total suck up_ , Cait grumbled to himself, avoiding her eyes.

He decided that being a brother was something he could live without right now. She still refused to agree with him over the Turk being wrong for Reeve, saying that he was being selfish and immature, and had even gone so far as to befriend the enemy. Seeing his own little sister sitting on that man's knee had made Cait want to do things to the Turk that his programming wouldn't let him.

"Traitor," he hissed softly at Fait as she paused beside him to get something out of a draw. Her gaze jumped to him and he felt some satisfaction at the way her expression fell from his words.

"Cait!" Reeve snapped behind him, making the little robot wince. He'd forgotten how good Reeve's hearing was. "Out of the kitchen now. I was willing to put up with your pouting, but I will not put up with you bullying your sister."

Cait turned, trying for his best, wide eyed innocent look, to hopefully garner enough sympathy to not be ejected.

"No, don't give me that look. I said out and I meant it," Reeve insisted, pointing the spoon he'd been cooking with at his creation. "Actually, I think it would be a good time for you to go to your room and let your systems do a full scan. God knows, I could do with a break from your attitude for a few hours."

Cait looked away sadly, knowing it was pointless to argue when the Turk would be arriving shortly. Slowly standing and walking towards the kitchen door, he paused half way out to look back, only to find Reeve had gone back to his cooking, having already dismissed his presence.

 _Fine, have it your way_ , Cait thought to himself as he continued down the hall and into his room, slamming the door shut behind him. _I'm not the only one easily replaced._

***.***

Reno couldn't wipe the grin off his face if he tried, and honestly, he didn't want too. He was meeting Rude for after hours drinks and was almost bouncing down the street as he made his way to their regular drinking spot, blissfully unsympathetic to the dirty streets and hungry faces he passed.

 _Suckers all need to drop their pride and sky high morals_ , he mused, sneering at the next beggar he passed. _There's always money to be made around here if ya don't think too highly of yourself._

Rude was already inside when he arrived, sitting in their booth in the corner like a gargoyle protecting its territory. Reno's grin widened at the way people avoided sitting nearby, loving the privacy they received automatically from just being Turks here under the plate. Stopping at the bar to get a beer, he was soon walking over and taking his seat across from Rude, turning his grin on the other man.

"Hey partner!" he greeted happily, taking a sip of his drink before putting it down to light up a smoke. "How's ya day been?"

"Normal... unlike yours, apparently," Rude murmured, slipping off his sunglasses to get a better look at his fellow Turk. "You on drugs or something?"

Reno laughed, not offended in the slightest. "Nah, just high on life today, ya know?"

"No, I really don't know," Rude replied flatly, bringing his own glass up to his lips where it paused for a moment. "Explain it to me."

"Well," Reno began, pausing for dramatic effect as he watched Rude raise an eyebrow at him over the glass he was now drinking from. "I had a date today with a lovely little flower."

"A date," Rude repeated, putting his glass down slowly as his eyes stayed locked on Reno. "Don't you mean you were doing your job?"

"Having picnic lunches under apple trees with beautiful girls that kiss so sweetly? I don't think that's _my_ job, unless somebody forgot to send me a memo," Reno retorted sarcastically, watching the way Rude's left eye twitched. It was the other man's one tell, and it showed that his words had gotten a reaction, despite the total lack of any other visible change. 

"You _are_ on drugs... or you've finally lost your mind."

Reno laughed again, finishing off his drink and clinking the glass down on the table a little too hard. "Nah, totally straight and mostly sane, man. You ever been in one of the warehouses downtown, where they grow the fruit underground? Fucking huge big rooms full of fruit trees and shit, all growing under artificial lights. Weird as shit, but damn nice place for a picnic. Temperature controlled and completely private."

Rude grunted, finishing off his own glass before putting it down and starring across the table at Reno. He had something on his mind, but Reno doubted he'd come out and say what he was really thinking. Rude just wasn't that kind of guy.

"You're playing a dangerous game. Hope the risks are worth the prize."

"Never wanted to taste untouched innocence before?" Reno asked, shrugging when Rude just continued to stare. "Look, I know she ain't the only virgin in town, but the way the boss worships her? It's like she's some kind of untouchable goddess or some shit. Man, it ain't healthy or good for any of us. It's a weakness... like a handicap we can't afford to have, weighing us down and I'm just removing it from the race to give us better odds," Reno mused, hand playing with the moisture that had beaded on the side of his glass.

"Just make sure you aren't part of the collateral damage at the end of the game," Rude replied, raising a hand to motion to the bar tender for another round of drinks. "I don't want to have to waste time breaking in a new partner."

***.***

Tseng relaxed back into the soft leather of Reeve's couch, a brandy in one hand and the other stroking over the soft fur of the robotic cat curled up beside him, resting it's head on his leg. Reeve's meal had been perfect, the engineer one of the best cooks he'd ever had the pleasure of knowing. The conversation had been interesting, the atmosphere calming... and he was so very glad he had the rest of the day off today, because going back to work after this would have been torturous.

His eyes rested on the door to the kitchen as he waited for Reeve to return from taking out the dishes, guessing the engineer would be awhile as he'd surely go and check on the suspiciously absent Cait. Tseng had been relieved at first by Cait's absence when he'd arrived, considering the usual tension that existed between them, but as time ticked on with no sight of him, Tseng couldn't help but be curious as to why he wasn't there. Fait shifted against his knee and he smiled down at the little creature, receiving a small smile back.

"Fait, why didn't your brother join us today?" he asked, knowing that she would simply tell the truth without Reeve there to control her blatant honesty.

"He's still being difficult, so Reeve sent him to his room earlier," she said, gazing up at him. "I don't understand why he'd being like this."

Tseng was sure he understood well enough, but he wasn't about to share the truth with Fait, just as he hadn't shared it with Reeve. "I'm sure it's just a phase he's going through. With time he will adjust and see that I'm not a threat."

Fait smiled up at him, blissfully unaware in her naivety. "I don't know where he gets such strange ideas in the first place," she mumbled, nuzzling his thigh as she lay back down, a soft purring sound emanating from her chest as Tseng continued to pet her.

***.***

Rude flipped his phone shut and shoved the device into his pocket, scowling out of his car window at the darkness. He'd just given his daily report, hating how overjoyed Rufus had sounded to hear about the progression of Reno's relationship with the flower girl. At least from his earlier conversation with Reno, it seemed the redhead wasn't seriously emotionally attached to the girl. It was hard on his conscience to be spying on his partner, but to see Reno have his heart broken and know the roll he played in it? Watching how this would all affect Tseng when Rufus made his final play would be bad enough as it was.

Sighing, he collected himself and tried to put all the rest to the back of his mind, glancing over to the house he was parked next too. Here above the plate, the public residences where so much cleaner, the air not as thick with toxins and the streets quiet and safe. There was nothing broken here. Electric light glowed warmly from random windows and he could hear laughter coming from inside, pure and untainted.

He would do anything to keep it that way.

Once out of the car, he opened the gate and walked through the small garden fronting the house slowly, enjoying the sounds of contentment from inside. Knocking on the door, he slipped his glasses into his pocket and looked down one last time to make sure his suit was in order.

The little boy that opened the door made his heart skip a beat, as did the way that little face lit up to see him.

"Unca Rude!" the boy exclaimed, throwing himself at Rude who caught the small body easily, hefting him up over his shoulder as the child squealed in delight.

"Good to see you, Luca," Rude murmured, avoiding the flailing limbs automatically, well experienced with the little boys reactions to their play. "Where's your folks?"

"We're in the lounge room, Rude," a man's voice called out. "Come on through bro... and bring the little sprite with you."

Rude called out a quick greeting to his brother as he stepped inside and shut the door, moving the still struggling boy onto his hip. Looking down at Luca, he discovered the child was pouting, his cute expression making Rude chuckle in affectionate amusement as he realized the reason behind it.

"You won't be a sprite forever, Luca. One day, you'll be a man too," Rude murmured, his words making the boy's face light up again.

"Yeah, I'll be so big! Big as you, Unca Rude!" Luca exclaimed before wriggling out of Rude's hold to run off in the direction of the lounge, loudly proclaiming to his parents just how big he would one day be.

Rude smiled at Luca's enthusiasm as he slipped off his shoes just inside the door. He left all thoughts of Reno and Tseng behind as he walked down the hall, knowing that he would always choose the safety of this family over them. They were grown men, capable of protecting themselves while Luca was only a child, too few years on the planet to know anything but the warm comfort of the only parents he'd ever known.

If Luca was to ever find out the truth of who his biological father really was, his world would fall apart and that was something Rude would never allow.

*** . ***


End file.
